


Making Adjustments

by flurblewig



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Multi, Post-Canon, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-17
Updated: 2010-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-06 09:23:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flurblewig/pseuds/flurblewig
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Chosen.  Faith helps Buffy see the light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making Adjustments

Everyone, without exception, had agreed with her decision to step down. She'd given so much for so long, she simply had nothing left. They all understood that. She needed a break; some time to regroup and get her head together. She needed to just get away.

So she'd amused herself for a while shopping and sunbathing her way around Europe; kicking back, taking it easy. It had been great to finally treat herself to some quality Buffy time, with nothing more taxing to worry about than where her next frappucino was coming from. Eventually the interchangeable hotel rooms and the living-out-of-a-suitcase thing began to get a little wearing, so she rented an adorable little apartment in Rome, and settled herself in for some serious relaxing.

Rome was bright and loud and alive, and felt ever so slightly unreal. During the day she took language classes and went swimming and shopping, just like any other twenty-something of leisure. At night she went out walking. Not patrolling, not slaying - she was very clear in her mind about that. She just went walking. A girl could go for a walk on her own if she wanted to, couldn't she? There didn't need to be an agenda. Didn't need to be a sacred duty. She didn't need any of that old stuff any more; she'd moved on. Things were different now. If she occasionally came across a stray vamp that could do with putting down, well - it was just one of those things. She didn't do it because she had to.

What they'd done in Sunnydale had changed the world - for all of them. The others seemed to be growing into their new roles effortlessly; Xander spent his time tracking down new Slayers across several continents, Willow and Dawn were engrossed in rebuilding the Council's mystical libraries - apparently across several dimensions - Faith was revelling in being Sensei to the trainees, and even Andrew was apparently managing to make himself useful. And Giles - well, Giles these days was something of a cross between the President and an A list movie star. She practically had to make an appointment even to call him. Her own Watcher, and she had to book herself a slot in his diary if she wanted to pass the time of day.

Not that she really had any reason to call him. She was kind of out of the saving-the-world loop, and she didn't think he'd be particularly interested in her latest shoe purchases.

And not, of course, that she could realistically call him her Watcher any more. He had more important things to do and she - well, she didn't think she could honestly call herself a Slayer any more, either. She was little more than a civilian, if truth be told. She was retired, no longer on active duty. Buffy Summers, Slayer Emeritus.

And that was okay. She was just fine with that. She loved Rome, of course she did. What was there not to love? It was full of sunlight and warmth, and shops, and drinks with umbrellas in, and happy, smiling people. Her life now was just wonderful; it was everything she'd ever wished for.

_Be careful what you wish for,_ they said, _because you might just get it_. It was a cliché, sure - but then stuff only got to be a cliché in the first place because it was true.

What she'd wished for, all these years, was simply not to be who she was. Not to be the one. And now, of course, she had her wish. Now, she was just one of many. Slayer, comma, A. Finally, the weight was off her shoulders; the responsibility lifted. She wasn't the Chosen One, because there _was_ no Chosen One. Now, there were the Chosen Three Hundred and Sixty Two and Counting. She wasn't on her own in the fight any more; she had an army to share the load.

It was what she'd wished for. What she'd needed. It was right, and good, and proper. And she didn't think she'd ever felt quite so alone in her life.

*

She'd discovered things on her doorstep before; flowers, usually, laid out like some kind of offering. What she found this time seemed more like an omen. A bad one.

The heap of cigarette butts reminded her of a swarm of dead flies. She kicked at it, scattering and grinding them under her heel. Little white bodies, burnt offerings to some uncaring god.

"Faith," she said, and it sounded strangely inevitable. Like she'd been waiting to say it for a long time. "What are you doing here?"

That earned her a grin. "Good to see you too, B."

She just waited, staring, hands on hips. Eventually, Faith sighed and threw down her final cigarette.

"Okay," she said. "Cards on the table, that's fair. I'm here to take you home."

Buffy laughed without amusement and patted her front door. "You know, I think I can manage these last perilous centimetres. But thanks, anyway."

She put her key in the lock and opened the door. When she tried to close it, the door rebounded off Faith's booted foot, which then stepped firmly over the threshold. Buffy sighed and conceded the territory without further protest, stalking off into her little kitchen. In all honesty, she hadn't expected to win the first round.

Everything was about strategy, when you came down to it. Life was a series of tactical decisions; when to advance, when to retreat. When, and what, to sacrifice. When, what, who.

"You know what I mean," Faith said, following her. "Home's where the heart is, isn't that right? And you're not going to tell me your heart's in this place."

"I like it here."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, everything's wonderful, couldn't be better. You've been singing that song for a year now, B, and it's getting old. Time to change the record."

Buffy rested her hands on the cool surface of the drainer, letting her head hang forward just a little. She felt exhausted already.

"Leave me alone, Faith. I'm okay. I don't need anything. I mean it."

"Not gonna happen, B. You need to deal with whatever shit you've got going on. You need to get it out. It's poisoning you."

Buffy heard the leather of Faith's jacket creak as she folded her arms. The air around Faith felt like it was vibrating - smoking, like hot oil. Making it hard for her to breathe.

Her little kitchen was shivering with indignation at this intrusion. This invasion. She could feel the steel and marble surfaces stare at her accusingly. _You said you didn't do this stuff any more. This Slayer stuff._

"I don't," she said.

"Huh?"

She turned around. "Nothing. Look, Faith, I - I'm fine, okay? Really. You can go back. Tell Gi- tell whoever that you've checked in with me, and I'm good."

Faith boosted herself up onto the worktop, her legs swinging. "You did hear the bit about me not buying that, right?"

Buffy closed her eyes briefly. She was too tired for this. "I just wanted a break, that's all. A little time off from saving the fucking world. Is that so much to ask? Haven't I earned that?"

Faith's expression lost a little of the hardness. Just a little. "Sure. Sure you have. None of us are arguing that. But a break is one thing, B, and what you're doing here is something else. Something that isn't healthy."

"Oh, so you're a psychiatrist now?" She could feel the anger fizzing just beneath her skin, and she fought to calm it down. She didn't do anger. Not any more.

"No," said Faith evenly. "I'm a Slayer. And in case you forgot, so are you. And just because you're not the only one any more doesn't mean you get to forget about your responsibilities. You don't get to quit this job, Buffy."

The laugh bubbled up out of her, unbidden. "Are you seriously trying to lecture me about Slayer duty? Well sure, why not? Because we all know you're the big expert on that, don't we?"

She was trying to sting, to wound; to take the edge off that anger that was refusing to obey her and dissipate, before it burned its way out from under her skin. But it seemed her weapons were blunt.

Faith just gave a tiny shrug and sat where she was. "Okay, so I wasn't exactly the poster child for good Slayerhood. That's not news. I know what I did, what I was. And I dealt with it. I'm back on track. Can you say the same?"

"No. No, I can't. Because I'm off the track, Faith. I'm out. Can't you understand that?"

"Frankly? No. I can't understand you hiding out here when people who still need you - " She paused, then raised her chin in something that looked like defiance. "People who still love you, carry on fighting."

Buffy shook her head. "They don't need me. That was kinda the point of what we did, Faith."

"Oh yeah? Stupid me, I thought the point was to fry the great big army of vampires in the Hellmouth and stop the First from taking over the world. But hey, you know me. I never really had the planning thing down too well. I'm more about the kicking ass than the thinking." She laughed. "I guess that's why I'm here right now."

Buffy looked at her steadily. Her hands curled into fists, and she had to make a conscious effort to straighten them out. "You're here to kick my ass?"

Faith jumped down onto the floor and took a step forward. She grinned. "Only if you're not going to come quietly."

Buffy gave her a thin smile in return. "I've never done much of anything quietly."

"Now _there's_ my girl."

Buffy shook her head. "I'm not your girl. You don't know me, Faith. You don't know anything about me."

"Oh, don't I? You so sure about that?"

Faith was moving toward her, slowly and deliberately, not losing eye contact. The challenge was written into every line of her body. Every 'personal space' alarm in Buffy's head began to shriek, but she didn't move back. She couldn't. Couldn't give ground, not to Faith. It wasn't in her. Even now, she couldn't do that.

"So." Faith stood, bouncing lightly on the soles of her feet. "Are we gonna throw down, then?"

Buffy watched her, the tension singing through her blood. _Yes,_ said her body. _Oh, yes_. It wanted to fight. Craved it. Craved violence, and pain, and anger.

She turned her head aside, running her hand over her eyes. "No," she said, ignoring the disappointment that flared through every muscle and sinew. "We're not. I can't do this, Faith. I won't."

When she looked back, she thought she saw her own disappointment mirrored in Faith's eyes. Eyes that were suddenly, shockingly, about an inch away from her own. She hadn't even heard her move.

"See, that's your problem, B"

Buffy swallowed. "What is?"

Faith's hand shot upwards and gripped Buffy's throat. "This," she said. "The fact that you're prepared to stand there and let me do this, rather than break my hand and feed it to me. The fact that you're trying to pretend you're not a Slayer anymore. That you're trying to pretend you're not _you_ any more."

She gradually relaxed her grip, and what had been a choke-hold softened, became lighter. Became something that was almost a caress. Faith's fingers moved lightly over Buffy's neck, brushing the hair away from her skin. "Truth is, we need you, B. We want you back."

She moved closer still, and then somehow, without Buffy being aware of how exactly it had happened, her lips had taken the place of her fingers. The tip of her tongue traced a warm line down Buffy's skin. A rush of air escaped from Buffy's bruised and protesting throat.

"_I_ want you back," said Faith, her breath a hot whisper against Buffy's neck. "I want you back, B. I want you back. I want you."

"Stop it," Buffy said, and her voice sounded thick and heavy in her ears. She wasn't even sure her mouth was forming the right sounds.

Faith pulled her head back slightly, and looked her straight in the eyes. "Make me," she said, as her hand found Buffy's breast and squeezed, her thumb working over the nipple through the thin cotton of her shirt.

Buffy stared back, her mouth working but no sound coming out that she could hear.

_Make me._ Yeah, she could do that. She could. The cold metal of the sink was pressing into her back, giving her no room to move backwards, but she could move Faith. She could throw her off, kick her across the room. She could remove the hand that was running down her body and, as per Faith's own helpful suggestion, break it and feed it to her. She could do that. She could.

She _would._

*

Buffy awoke feeling dazed and heavy, both body and mind sluggish and unresponsive. Her muscles ached fiercely. What the hell had she been doing? Had she gotten into a fight last night? She didn't -

And then the mattress shifted slightly, and she remembered.

She'd been in this situation before, of course; it wasn't the first time she'd woken up to find that she wasn't alone in the bed. Normally, she'd just get up and start doing whatever she had to be doing. Eventually, the bed would become empty again. Problem solved.

This time, she didn't think it was going to be that easy.

She rolled over carefully onto her back, trying not to disturb the girl lying beside her, and stared sightlessly at the ceiling. Well, what a great job she was doing of cutting her ties. Sleeping with Faith was a wonderful declaration of independence, wasn't it? Way to go, Buffy. Get down with your fucked-up self.

Pressure began to build at the back of her throat, and she swallowed angrily. She wasn't going to cry. Not now, not ever. She was finished with crying over what-shouldn't-have-been.

She blinked hard, and when she opened her eyes again she found Faith lying on her side, head propped up on one hand, watching her. Her eyeliner had made dark smudges under her eyes, her lip was swollen and there was a slowly-ripening bruise on one cheekbone. She was beautiful.

Faith rolled over onto her back, stretching luxuriously. "Now that was what I call a good workout," she said, throwing Buffy a Cheshire-cat grin.

Buffy began to sit up, but found herself roughly pulled back down. Faith's hands were suddenly on her shoulders, her knees either side of Buffy's hips. She shook her head, and leaned down until her lips were a mere inch from Buffy's own.

"Are you ready for round two, then?" she asked, the grin still on her face.

Buffy closed her eyes, the word _yes_ trying to float unbidden to her lips. When she looked up at Faith again, the grin had been replaced with a more serious, unreadable expression.

"No. Fuck that. I guess what I really want to know, B, is - are you ready to come home?"

Sometimes, the best tactical decision was a retreat. Knowing when to cut your losses was just as important as anything else. Sometimes, you just had to know when to admit you were beaten.

"Yes," she said.

*

She'd never been to England before. It was pretty enough, but after the vibrancy of Rome, everything seemed quiet and a little washed out. Quite literally - apparently another cliché that was all true was the one about it always raining in Britain.

They'd certainly been busy, while she'd been gone. The New and Improved Slayers Council ran like a well-oiled machine. The material possessions - the buildings and books and records - might have been destroyed but the bank accounts had been untouched, and the twenty-three-room country mansion Giles had bought to use as HQ seemed to have barely made a dent in them. Buffy shook her head and wished she'd fought harder for that clothing allowance, back in the day.

The days were filled with classes, patrols, debriefing sessions and video conferences. She wandered through a few of them, but couldn't help feeling rather out of step. Some of the newest Slayers didn't even know who she was.

After a while, she stopped going. It didn't seem to matter; it wasn't like she'd exactly been contributing. She found herself taking lot of long, midnight walks and longer afternoon naps. For the latter at least, she tended to have company.

"Why am I here?" she asked Faith. "Explain to me again just how much you all need me?"

"Already? Jeez, I thought I was supposed to be the insatiable one." Faith kicked off the bedclothes and straddled her. "Well, I was going to get up early to take the newbies out on a field trip, but I guess they can always start without me."

Buffy pushed her off. "That's not what I mean, and you know it."

Faith rolled over and held up her hands. "Okay, okay. Chill. Look, you just gotta get back in the saddle. There's plenty that needs doing, but it's going to be up to you to get yourself involved. The others - well, they're not going to come to you. They don't want to push."

"God, the way you all talk - you'd think I'd had a nervous breakdown or something."

The arms snaked around her again, and this time she didn't pull away. "Oh, no-one calls it a nervous breakdown any more, that's so passé. It's 'depressive episode', these days."

"Are you saying - "

A kiss silenced her. "Kidding," Faith said after a while.

"Were you?"

At last she earned herself a serious look. "Mostly. But you were, you know -" She tailed off.

"No, I don't know. I was what?"

"Grieving."

Buffy swallowed. "Oh." She paused, and shut her eyes. Images of flames danced behind her eyelids. "Yeah, I guess I - yeah."

Faith's hands were warm on her skin. "It's okay."

"Is it?"

"Sure. Everyone understands what you went through. You just need to - you know, talk to them. Let them know you're still in the game."

"That's easier said than done. Xander's never here, Willow and Dawn always have their noses in books I can't even read the titles of, and Giles - well, Giles doesn't even know I exist."

Faith snorted, the little puff of air tickling Buffy's jaw.

"What?"

"B, there are a lot of things that Giles doesn't know exist - MTV, chat rooms and Jennifer Lopez, to name a few - but you certainly aren't one of them. Trust me, he's very, very aware that you're around."

"Jennifer Lopez? That'd be quite a good thing to not know about. But Faith, if he's as all-knowing as you seem to think, then why doesn't he talk to me? He's barely said more than five words to me since I got here, and three of those have been 'Um'. He's so _busy._ Everywhere I look there are new Slayers hanging off him like groupies. And he has to give lectures. And sign things. Important things. And, and the books! All the books Willow keeps finding. How am I supposed to compete with all that?"

"Just _talk_ to him, B."

"I can't," she said.

"Why not?"

Buffy shook her head, unable to explain what she didn't understand. "I don't know how," she said.

Faith sighed and put out a hand to brush Buffy's hair out of her eyes, and the unexpected tenderness made her throat hurt.

"Don't," she said softly.

Faith leaned up on her elbow and looked down at her, face serious. "B, you need to let us help you. You need to let us in."

"Us?"

"Me. Giles. Us."

"I don't - I don't think I know who he is any more."

"He's your Watcher, B. That hasn't changed. Never will."

"I'm not so sure. I'm not a Slayer now, not a real one. Not like you, not like Kennedy and the others. I don't need a Watcher."

"Slayer always needs her Watcher. And you're always going to need Giles."

"I don't think I know how to need anyone. I'm not sure I ever have."

"I hear you. I do. But maybe it's time to learn."

"I don't know if I can. I think it's too late. Giles - he's got all this, all this other stuff. Other people." To her horror, she realised that she was crying. How had that happened? Even her own body didn't listen to her any more. "He doesn't even look at me, Faith."

Faith's thumb slid across her cheek, wiping away the tears with unexpected tenderness. "Yeah, well, he doesn't get everything right. He said we had to wait - that you needed space, that you'd come to us when you were ready." She grinned. "And I said fuck that. You know me, B. I've never been one for hanging around."

Buffy managed a watery smile. "I guess patience never was your strong suit."

"Hell no. You know, there's a time for patience and planning and all that good shit. But this wasn't it. You'd had enough time to adjust, now you needed a good crack upside the head." Her hand darted behind Buffy's head and pulled her forward violently. A hard, bruising kiss landed on Buffy's lips. "And for that, I am definitely your girl."

Buffy kissed back, welcoming the challenge. Faith's hands tangled in her hair, and she mashed their lips together until Buffy could taste the coppery tang of blood in her mouth. A surge of adrenaline and desire filled her lower stomach with heat and left her feeling dizzy. Maybe her body did know something about what she wanted, after all.

"You don't need kid gloves," said Faith, breathing hard. "You never did. Rupert the Brain might be hot shit on Slayers in general, but he's never had a fucking clue when it comes to you."

Buffy frowned at her while her hands still roamed over the firm muscles of Faith's upper shoulders. "That's not fair."

"Isn't it?"

"No. Giles, he - well, I couldn't have done this, any of this, without him. I wouldn't have made it."

"Fair enough, you might be right. But that's still just proving my point - he groks the Slayer stuff, not the Buffy stuff. Not that you're any better, when it comes to it."

"What do you mean?"

"You and Giles, you're both as bad as each other. As a Watcher and a Slayer, you're like some kind of fucking dream ticket. Then, you get it. Both of you. You get how it works. But outside of that, you're hopeless. When it comes to the rest of it, you're just totally fucking hopeless."

"The rest of what?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "See, you just keep proving me right every time you open your mouth."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Faith."

Faith shook her head, almost sadly. "I know," she said. "You really don't, do you?"

Buffy just looked at her helplessly. She felt suddenly lost, like all those times at school when she'd come back after having had to skip class for some emergency or other. She'd listen to what was being discussed, she'd hear the words being said - but wouldn't be able to understand them. She'd watch the others, so painfully aware of the separation, the distance, between them. She knew she'd missed something vital. The world had moved on without her and now she couldn't catch up.

It was only around the Scooby Gang that she'd ever felt secure; that was her world, and she didn't have to study it to understand it. It was in her blood. With her gang, her support system, she knew she'd never miss anything important - they'd spot it, catalogue it and process it for her. Willow, Xander, Giles - and later, Dawn - they were her safety net.

But somehow that net had ended up with holes in it, and she'd slipped off the high wire and fallen straight through. And she still didn't understand quite how that had happened. Or how it came to be that Faith was the one to catch her.

Buffy stared at her with something like wonder. "How did we get here?" she asked, the question directed almost more to herself than to Faith.

Faith gave her an insouciant shrug. "I took advantage of you during a period of weakness. Or the planets finally aligned in mystical convergence and led us to our sacred destiny. Or you finally woke up to yourself and admitted you wanted to get in my pants. Or all of the above. Whatever. Does it matter?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I think it's supposed to." Sex was one thing - fuelling the body, just a biological function. But connection, caring - that came with power. She was sure that was supposed to mean something. "Isn't it?".

"We're here now. That's what counts. How it all happened - who really knows, and who cares? I'll admit that as a philosophy, 'want, take, have' was a little raw around the edges, but it had its merits. You overthink stuff, you just end up paralysed."

She leant down and nibbled Buffy's ear. "If you wait too long to make your move, if you spend too much time analysing it and dissecting it and talking yourself out of it, then by the time you come to realise what an ass you've been, chances are that you'll be so tied up in knots that you physically can't do it. Can't take that step forward."

She pulled back and grinned, suddenly. "So: any prizes for exactly who and what we're talking about here?"

When Buffy said nothing, Faith gave a brief snort of laughter and shook her head. "Oh boy. This is way harder than I thought. Jeez, at least he's English. What's your excuse?"

That dizzying, _this is so obvious, my God where have you been, Summers?_ feeling swept over Buffy again. She wanted to throw herself down on the floor and scream; have a tantrum, like a two-year-old.

_Mommy I don't understand I don't get it they're laughing at me I don't like it make it go away make it stop I want to go HOME -_

Then Faith's hands were on her shoulders and the tilting levelled out and she could breathe again.

"It's okay," she said. "You're all right, I've got you. Hey, maybe that's enough of Faith's Guide to Life for now, huh? You look beat." She paused. "Maybe I do push too hard."

"No. I want to know what you're trying to say. I need to know."

_You already do,_ a voice wanted to say. The voice of those long-ago teachers; half-kind, half-harsh. All disappointed. _You're not stupid, Buffy, you just don't try hard enough. You don't pay attention. You never did._

But she meant to. She _wanted_ to.

"Tell me," she said.

"You already know," said Faith, echoing the voices in her head. "You can't not."

Buffy stared at her. "Giles," she whispered, and the name sounded both so alien and so familiar. Giles. A Watcher, a man. Had she ever really known either?

"Yeah. Giles. And you."

Faith stopped, as if waiting. When Buffy said nothing, she shook her head. "Am I really going to have to spell this out? With diagrams?"

Buffy looked down, but Faith's hand reached out and tilted her chin up again. "Okay then, maybe I am. He's in love with you," she said. "He always has been."

Giles. A Watcher, a man. _Her_ Watcher.

Her man?

_Giles. And you._

It made no sense at all and yet it explained everything.

Dark eyes searched hers. What they were looking for, Buffy wasn't sure.

Faith's hand curved along her jawline. "Talk to me, B."

But she couldn't. She was mute, the enormity of what she wanted to say blocking her ability to say it.

"Okay then," said Faith. "I guess I'll talk."

She leaned in, her hand snaking round the back of Buffy's head and pulling her head up off the pillow. Her mouth found Buffy's neck, her tongue running lightly up to her ear. "You want him," she whispered against her skin. "You always have. Admit it."

Buffy swallowed hard. "I - no, I - he was my Watcher. I never thought of him like that."

"You always were a terrible liar. Want to try that one again?"

Buffy drew in a sharp breath as teeth nipped at her neck. "I - I don't - "

Faith's hand found Buffy's breast, squeezing and kneading. "Oh, come on," she said. "You never once imagined what it would be like to have him touch you? To have his hands on you, like this?"

Her thumb began rubbing, describing slow, small circles over her erect nipples until the sensation became almost unbearable; her whole world, narrowing down to this feeling of skin on skin.

And then it was gone.

Buffy's eyes flew open and she gasped. "Faith - "

But Faith had pulled away, and was lying on her back shaking her head.

"Faith, what - "

"C'mon, B. It's time to 'fess up. No more hot lovin' till you talk to me."

Buffy groaned. "Oh god. Okay, okay. I might have - had inappropriate thoughts sometimes. There, is that what you wanted to hear?"

Faith turned her head and gave her a slow, lazy smile that caused her insides to liquefy. "That's the general idea, yeah. But that's just the start. I want to hear the details." She rolled onto her side again. "I want to hear about those thoughts. I want to know what each and every one of them was."

"I - well, I - "

Faith's hands slid back over her stomach, fingers fleetingly touching the undersides of her breasts. "There's no need to be shy with me, B."

She bent her head, and her tongue followed her fingers. Buffy shivered as the bedsheet was finally discarded and the tip of Faith's tongue flicked lightly over her exposed nipples.

"Okay, I - I guess I thought about him doing something like that."

"Touching you? Tasting you?"

"Yes. Sometimes, when we were training I'd be - you know, all hot and hyped up, and he'd be so there, so close, and I used to think about just grabbing him."

The hands began to move slowly down her body. "Okay, good start. So you've grabbed hold of him. What do you do then? You start kissing him?"

Buffy wriggled slightly, trying to encourage those wandering hands down to where she needed them. "Yeah. I kiss him."

"And what does he do?"

"At first he just kind of lets me do it. Like, he doesn't exactly respond but he doesn't pull away either. So I stop, and we stare at each other, and then just when it starts getting unbearable and I'm about to start being horrified and sorry, he gets hold of me and pulls me right up against him. And he looks at me - really _looks_ at me - and he says 'are you sure?' and I say 'yes. Yes, Giles, I'm sure.' Then he kisses me, and we sort of pull each other down onto the floor and - "

Finally Faith's hand slid between her legs. "And he does this, right?"

Buffy drew in a shuddering breath. "Yes. He does that."

"He touches you, he puts his hands _here_ and he does _this_ until you start screaming. Until you beg him to fuck you."

"Yes," she said, bucking her hips as the waves of white heat rose up to envelop her. _"Yes."_

*

She moved into Faith's room with minimum fuss and even less comment, although she could have sworn that Willow was giving her particularly 'told-you-so' looks for a couple of days. What could she say? It was a fair point.

She began to help out with the training sessions; dipping her toe in the water, so to speak. A few moves here, a couple of throws there. No-one pushed her to take part, but she was aware of more than a few encouraging smiles when she did. Plus, sparring with Faith never failed to get her hot. Bonus.

They tended to sneak away after demonstrations, leaving the girls to practise what they'd been shown and getting in a little workout of their own.

When she rolled over and reached down to pick her panties up off the floor, Faith shook her head. "Don't bother getting dressed. We've got an appointment to keep."

"Huh? We've got an appointment to keep without clothes?"

"Oh yeah. We sure have." Faith stood up and stretched languorously, then glanced at the clock on the cabinet. "Any minute now."

"What? Any minute now what?" Buffy sat up, pulling the sheet with her. "Faith? If something's going to be kicking off, I am _not_ getting into it naked."

"Trust me, naked is going to be the only way to get into this."

"Into what? What the hell are you talking about?"

Faith gave her a long-suffering sigh as she picked up Buffy's jeans and shirt from the floor and threw them over the over side of the room. "Haven't you been listening to anything I've said lately?"

"When? What? Oh, wait - you don't mean - Faith, you didn't - you wouldn't - "

She was interrupted by a knock on the door and a voice. A male voice. A male _Giles-y_ voice.

"Faith?" it said.

"Come in," Faith sang out, loud and confident.

The door opened and Giles stepped inside. "Faith, I've been thinking about that class you gave with the -"

His words choked off as he took in the sight of Faith, completely naked. "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry, do excuse me. I - "

He turned quickly away, but Faith was quicker. She slammed the door shut and locked it, then stood in front of it with her arms folded. "Nuh-uh," she said. "You're not going anywhere. I booked you for two hours and you're not getting out of here until I've had my money's worth." She grinned at Buffy. "Or rather, _our_ money's worth."

Buffy had seen Giles stand up to vampires and demons without so much as a muscle twitch, but faced with a stark naked Faith, he looked floored. His hands went to his face, only to drop away again when they found no glasses there. Buffy couldn't help a slight smile. She was willing to bet that he was cursing his contact lenses right about now. Andrew, revelling in his new role as Giles's PA, had insisted that lenses were safer as they wouldn't get broken in a fight. Which was true, but didn't help in a situation where _not_ being able to see clearly would probably have been Giles's preferred option.

The smile grew, and she immediately raised a hand to cover it. This wasn't funny. It really wasn't. But - he did look especially cute when he was all blushing and flustered.

Giles's head turned towards her, then swung away. "Buffy," he said to the laundry basket, "what is the meaning of this?"

Faith laughed. "Oh, come on. You're lured to a bedroom under false pretences then locked in with two hot, naked chicks -" she unfolded her arms and spread them wide, displaying herself unashamedly "- and can I just take a moment here to emphasise the 'hot' part of that sentence - and you have to ask what it means?" She shook her head sadly. "Giles, if this is a typical example of your deductive reasoning skills, well - the world is doomed."

Again the hand tried to flutter to his face before being resolutely stuffed into a pants pocket. "Faith, this is - I - " He backed up a step but that took him closer to the bed, and Buffy. He stopped moving.

Faith held up her hands, palms out. "Okay, okay. You know what? I'm not about making people do shit they don't want to do, so here's the deal. Anyone in this room who can put hand on heart and say they haven't spent many a long, productive evening fantasising about screwing the brains out of the other two, step forward now. I'll unlock the door, you can walk away and we'll all write it off as a bit of random demonic influence or something."

She stopped, and looked from Giles to Buffy. "Well?"

Neither of them moved. Faith nodded slowly and put the key down on the dresser. "That's what I thought. Jeez, how did you guys ever get _anything_ done without me around, huh?"

Giles looked directly at Buffy for the first time. "Buffy - is this what you want?" His voice was low, rough - almost guttural. Something deep inside her stomach began to feel heavy and warm at the sound of it. She took a deep breath. Both Giles and Faith were watching her.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, I want this. I want you." She pushed herself back in the bed, making room. "Both of you."

Faith stepped forward with a bright, wicked smile. "So come on, what are we waiting for? Two hours isn't that long, you know."

She padded over to the bed and got in beside Buffy. Giles hadn't moved, but his eyes were riveted to them. He swallowed, his throat clicking audibly, as Faith leaned over to give Buffy a long, lingering kiss. When it ended, they were both panting slightly. Buffy raised her head, looking over Faith's shoulder. "Giles," she said.

The paralysis that had seemed to hold him broke, and he dropped to his knees by the side of the bed. One hand reached out - slowly, tentatively - to touch Buffy's cheek. She raised her own hand over the back of his, pressing down on it. Her eyes searched his, finding wonder and desire in equal measure.

"Yes," she said softly. "Yes, Giles."

He bent his head, his lips finding hers. It felt suddenly strange, the feel of a man's skin against hers - and not just a man's skin, but Giles's skin, Giles's mouth, Giles's tongue sliding against hers. Strange, and dizzying, and _exciting._

She sat up without breaking the kiss, her hand going around the back of Giles's head to pull him even closer. Faith shifted behind her, leaning around to caress her breasts. Finally Buffy had to pull away, drawing in a ragged breath as Giles's hands joined Faith's.

"Oh God," she said. "Oh God, I need - Giles - "

Faith smiled at Giles, her eyes dark with heat. "You heard the lady."

She moved aside, so that Buffy could lay back. Her hands continued to stroke Buffy's skin in slow lazy circles, as Giles looked steadily at Buffy.

"Buffy," he said. "Are you - "

"Fuck me," she said, cutting him off. "Giles, shut up and _fuck me_. "

He made a sound low in his throat, then stood up and stripped off his clothes with rough, uneven movements. Naked, he got onto the bed and lowered himself over Buffy. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around him, guiding his cock inside her. They both gasped as he entered her.

"Oh yeah," said Faith, lying on her elbow and watching intently. "Oh yeah, that's it. Doesn't that feel good?"

Her free hand trailed down her body and came to rest between her legs. She let out a long, sighing moan as her middle finger began to circle her clit in a rhythmic motion.

Buffy's eyelids fluttered but she forced them open, not wanting to miss a second of the sight of either Giles's or Faith's pleasure. She lifted her hips, encouraging Giles to bury himself deeper and harder inside her.

She reached out to touch Faith, fingers sliding over sweat-slicked skin as the other girl shuddered and cried out. Then Giles was calling her name, over and over, and she finally closed her eyes and surrendered to the fire that was waiting to consume her.

*

When Giles moved into Faith's room as well, it created rather more fuss - for a start, they had to knock through a wall to make the room big enough - and a lot more comment.

"To the victor go the spoils," said Faith to the ones with widest eyes. "When _you've_ all saved the world eighteen times before breakfast, you can do whatever you like, too. Now, who wants to volunteer for extra patrol? Get in a bit of good, world-saving practice?"

A lot of hands went up, including Andrew's. She grinned at Giles. "See? Our sex life is a motivational force. You know, we should include that in the Watcher training routines."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "We should do what?"

"Train them in sex skills! Think about it - sex is great exercise. It's a terrific cardiovascular workout, and it improves both flexibility and stamina. And if you've got a hot, trained-to-the-eye-teeth sex god Watcher to come home to, what Slayer's gonna get sloppy? Like I said, motivational force."

Giles cocked his head, as if listening to something. "Do either of you hear that?"

Faith and Buffy both looked at each other. Buffy shook her head and Faith shrugged. "Hear what?"

Giles smiled at them. "I believe it to be the sound of Quentin Travers spinning in his grave."

Faith nodded, grinning. She raised her coffee mug to both of them. "I'll drink to that."

*

She was sparring with Faith when it happened. One minute she was aiming a well-placed high kick and the next she was lying flat on the floor with a concerned-looking Giles bending over her.

"Buffy? Are you all right?"

She sat up slowly, shaking her head to clear it. Which turned out to be a very bad idea. She took a deep breath as a wave of nausea flowed over her.

"Um," she said. "I think so. I just - well, I don't know what I just. Did I faint? I don't - " She broke off, seeing Faith also lying on the floor of the gym.

She struggled to her feet. "Shit. Giles, what happened? Is she okay?"

Giles held out his arm and she took it, using it to pull herself upwards. Her ears were still ringing but the sick feeling in her stomach was fading, thank God. She stumbled over to Faith, who was rolling onto her side, groaning.

A sudden chirping noise made them all jump, until Giles began to fumble at his belt. "Phone," he explained, and flipped open the tiny lid.

"Giles here. What - oh, Andrew." He listened for a few seconds, looking down at Buffy and Faith. "Yes, I'm here with both of them. I see. Yes, it seems like this isn't exactly an isolated experience, then."

"What is it?" asked Buffy. "Giles, what's going on?"

He closed the phone and pursed his lips. "Whatever just happened to you two, Andrew says that reports are coming in from all over that it's happened to the other Slayers too. Apparently the - "

The phone sang out again. Giles looked at it, hesitated, then flipped it open. "Giles."

He listened for a much longer period this time, then nodded. "Xander. Xander, calm down. I know that something - yes, the Slayers here have also experienced a - yes, yes, they're all right. A little shaken, but no harm appears to have been done." He paused. "No, not yet. But something has obviously - yes, I'll speak to Willow. And yes, I promise you she's fine. I - what? Oh. Well, yes, it is true No, I know it - look, Xander -" he turned away slightly, and lowered his voice. "Can we not discuss this right now? In fact, can we not discuss this at all? I'm sure we all have better things to concern ourselves with and - yes, yes, I will. Yes."

He turned back to face Buffy and Faith. "That was Xander," he said unnecessarily. "His Slayer has also been affected by this - well, whatever it is, so it appears to have been a global phenomenon. He has spoken to Willow, who says she also experienced a - a disturbance in the Force, as Xander puts it."

Faith got slowly to her feet, rubbing at her temple. "That was one freaky trip. It felt like something was - I don't know, ripped out of my head. Everything went kinda wobbly, and now I have one _bitch_ of a headache."

Buffy reached out and smoothed away the hair from her face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. It just seems like a bit of a rip-off to get the hangover without the party, you know?"

Buffy nodded. "I'm with you on the wobbly, but not quite so much with the headache. Mine's more on a par with a too-long session of hitting the books than hitting the bottle."

Faith gave her a slightly wavery smile. "Sucks to be us, huh?"

"I guess that's the big question." Buffy turned back to Giles. "If this thing has affected all the Slayers, we need to find out exactly what it is. What it means."

Giles nodded. "Agreed. Are you two fit for duty, as it were? We should start making some enquiries."

Faith looked slightly doubtful. "You should go and lie down," said Buffy. "It seems to have hit you harder than me, I don't know why. Go get some rest, I'll go with Giles and see what we can dig up."

Faith hesitated, but finally nodded. "Okay. I do feel pretty wiped. I'll catch up with you later. But hey, if you find out anything major, wake me, okay?"

"You got it. Now go. Sleep." Buffy took Faith's arm, and turned towards the door.

Faith jerked her arm away, and gave Buffy a rather strained smile. "It's okay, mom, you can quit worrying. I'm a big girl, I can get myself to bed."

"Hey, I just meant - " Buffy broke off as Faith walked off and closed the door behind her. She frowned, then looked at Giles. "Women, huh?"

He smiled gently. "She's not used to people wanting to look after her, Buffy."

"I know, I know. I just - " She shrugged helplessly. "Giles, point me in the direction of something I understand. Something I can kill."

"I can't promise that, Buffy, but if you want to come with me, I'm going to see Eva at the covenstead. I want to know if they felt what Willow did."

Buffy nodded. "Then let's saddle up."

*

Eva Harkness looked more like an accountant than a witch, but Buffy always tried not to hold that against her. She was nice enough, if a bit scarily efficient.

"Rupert," she said, holding the door open for them. "Good. I was expecting you."

Buffy followed Giles into the white, office-y room the coven used for study and research. The walls were covered in shelves of box files and large, leather-bound books. A bank of shiny desktop PCs completed the business-like image.

"Then you are aware of the incident involving the Slayers?"

Eva nodded. "It's not just the Slayers. We all felt it here."

"Felt _what?"_ said Buffy. "What the hell happened?"

Eva looked unimpressed with her impatient tone, but Buffy didn't care. She needed to know.

"It was a - a kind of shockwave, if you will. What you felt was the fallout of some very powerful magic. Slayers have a connection to the mystical energies, as proven by their ability to share prophetic and revelatory dreams. As such, you were all affected by the execution of this spell."

Giles leaned forward. "What kind of spell?"

Eva looked at him seriously. "The reality-altering kind. A lot of magical force has been expended to reshape this world, past and present. The last time anything like this was known was almost four years ago, when - "

Buffy cut her off. "Dawn," she said.

Eva nodded. "The turning of the Key to human form, and the alteration of the world to accommodate it. Yes."

"So - something like that's been done again? Someone's been, you know, _added?"_

"Or taken away."

Buffy's heart lurched. "Taken away - you don't mean - could someone have undone what the monks did?" She jumped up. "Giles, where's Dawn? Has anyone spoken to her?"

Giles looked at her, his eyes wide. "I don't - in all the confusion, I never thought to -"

"Your phone. Give me your phone. Quickly."

He fumbled it out, and handed it over to Buffy. She pressed the speed-dial for Dawn's cell and clamped the phone to her ear.

_Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick -_

"Giles? Hey, what's up?"

Buffy let out a long breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "Dawn. It's me. Where are you?"

"Oh, hey Buffy. I'm still at Rosa's. Her dad has this awesome collection of Dr Who DVDs and - uh, I mean, collection of fourth century prophecies, and - "

"But you're okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why, shouldn't I be? Is something wrong?"

"We don't really know yet, but there's been some weird stuff going on. I think you should get back here."

"Oh. That's probably why I have ten missed calls from Willow then, huh? Okay, I'll pack up now. We've seen most of the, uh, scrolls now anyway."

"Okay, good. Come on back."

Buffy hung up and sat down again, letting out a long breath. "She's fine. She's on her way home."

Giles reached out and took her head. "That's good news."

"Yes. But we're no further forward on working out what's happened. What's been changed."

Giles looked at Eva. "Can you do a locator spell? Track down the source of this?"

Eva nodded slowly. "Yes, we should be able to do that. To narrow it down a little, at least. Magic this powerful leaves a trail, we should be able to follow it back."

She stood up. "Let me work on this. I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

*

The call came in only two hours later. Giles spoke briefly to Eva, then hung up, looking serious.

"What?" asked Buffy. "What is it? What did she find out?"

"The coven was able to track down the origin point of the spell. It worked a lot better than they'd expected, in fact. They were able to pinpoint the sorcerer who acted as the focal point."

"And?"

"His name is Cyrus Vail. Eva has - crossed swords with him in the past. He's basically a mercenary, selling his powers to the highest bidder regardless of the nature of the request."

"So he was working for someone else? Someone paid him to alter reality?"

"Yes, it would appear so."

"Do we know who?"

"Not for sure. But in Eva's experience, there's only one source she knows of that would have the resources to fund something like this. It wasn't just Vail - there were a lot of subsidiaries involved. This was a very intricate operation."

Buffy stood up. "Okay, so who does she figure for the puppetmaster role? Because I think we need to be having a chat with them."

"I don't think it's going to be quite that easy."

"Why not?"

Giles rubbed a hand across his eyes. "Buffy. Have I ever talked to you about Wolfram &amp; Hart?"

*

For Buffy, the bag on the bed would barely have covered her for a trip to the bathroom, but Faith always travelled light. For Faith, a bag that size could take her half way round the world.

Buffy stared at it. "Are you going somewhere?"

Faith gave her a slow nod. "Yeah."

"Where? Why? When?"

"LA. This Wolfram &amp; Hart stuff - someone needs to go and run reconnaissance. We can't just go charging in there blind, we have no idea what we're dealing with yet. There's a rumour that -" She broke off. "Well, that doesn't matter right now. But it's why we - why I - need to do this. So that we can get some reliable information. And as for when -" She shrugged. "Now, pretty much."

Buffy sank down onto the bed, running her fingers over the bag's straps. "Have you spoken to Giles about this?"

"Yeah. I'm not that much of a loose canon, B. Not any more. Giles knows I'm right." She reached out and grabbed Buffy's hand. "And so do you."

"But - but - these Wolfram &amp; Hart people. They sound dangerous."

Faith raised her eyebrows and said nothing.

"Okay, okay. I guess that kinda comes with the job description. How long will you be gone?"

"Honestly? I don't know. But it's could be a while. Hey, come on, you'll be okay. You've still got Giles."

Buffy got up and walked to the window. Watched the wind blow through the trees. "You're not coming back, are you?"

There was a pause, then Faith came up behind her and wrapped her arms around Buffy's waist. "It's been a great gig, but you know me, B. Domestic bliss, even if it does come wrapped up in a hot threeway package, just isn't my scene. I'm not the putting down roots kind of girl. This is the best thing, believe me. I don't want to - you know, end up spoiling anything."

"Better to burn out than fade away, huh?"

"There's worse outlooks to have. And hey look -" she laid a gentle, almost chaste kiss on Buffy's neck. "I finally got you two crazy kids to admit your feelings about each other. And have hot monkey sex at every available opportunity. We scandalised half the English countryside, gave Andrew a dream to aspire to and made Kennedy eat her 'I'm the hottest dyke in the village' attitude. My work here is done."

She stepped back to the bed, picked up the bag and hefted it onto her shoulder. Buffy looked over at her. "Thank you. For - well, everything."

"Don't mention it." Faith grinned and ran her hands down her body, finally patting her ass. "You know how it is, B. Gotta use your powers for the greater good."

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, I'll remember to put that in the new Slayer Handbook. The Faith motto."

"Hey, I'll hold you to that. It's kinda nice to think I could be more than a footnote about how things can go bad."

"Well, you've earned it. Now go, if you're going, before I call in the security team to tie you up."

"Bondage games, huh? You really have come a long way."

"Faith - "

"Yeah. I'm gone."

And, with a final kiss, she was.

 

-end-


End file.
